New coop!

[seagullplayer]

Got it last week, leveled it up yesterday.
Got eight new birds over the weekend, everyone stays cooped up for a week or so.

I love it, doors on either end, all cedar construction.



A bad picture of the inside:

 

[Going Quackers]

That is really nice! you should have fun filling it lol

 

[DesigningLife]

Very nice! Is there a way to access the nest boxes from the exterior? I love the cedar and wished I could have used it on my little coop I built...maybe for the next one. I think I would also cover the floor with linoleum to help preserve the wood, keep moisture from soaking into it from the droppings, and make it simple to clean. My coop is not a walk-in (yet, heheh) and is quite small, so I just used some durable pond liner on the floor of it for easy clean up.

 

[4 the Birds]

Nice solid structure with quality materials! Add a pop door and a nice enclosed run so the birds can get outside. Nice space saver the way you have the nest boxes and roost bars set-up. The only problem is that they may roost on the nest box edges (and poop in the boxes) since they are up higher.

 

[seagullplayer]

Got this from an Amish builder, it was a gift to me. I really had no say in the construction, there are a couple of things I will change. Going to add a higher roost bar, as was mentioned they like to roost above the next boxes.

To answer another question, yes the nest boxes can be reached from the back side.
I have always used straw or hay for litter, a lanolin floor can get pretty slick when you track winter snow in.

While my wife likes the idea of getting eggs from outside, I always liked going into the hen house to have a look at everything before I close up for the night.

I don't plan to add a run, mine have always free ranged in the yard. We are very rural...

 

[DesigningLife]

Excellent! You're lucky to have a place where your flock can free-range and I hadn't thought about the floor becoming "slick" (have yet to build a larger coop) so thank you for that heads up! I live in southern Michigan so the winters here are "interesting" as well. That's great that you can access the nest boxes from the exterior...when I saw where the roosting bars were, I thought, "oh boy, somebody is going to have to walk through a lot of muck to get to the eggs". Great tip someone had on moving the roosting bars higher!

 

[chickens eh]

I agree about the floor. If you cover it from top only. You seal top and moisture from below is trapped. Not good for wood. And as for collecting eggs I agree the conscience is great for collecting from outside but I too like to know what's happening on the inside.

 

[JanetS]

Lucky chickens!!! Very nice..

 

[seagullplayer]

Installed a new higher roosting pole last night, they seem to like it better...

 

[Going Quackers]

Got this from an Amish builder, it was a gift to me. I really had no say in the construction, there are a couple of things I will change. Going to add a higher roost bar, as was mentioned they like to roost above the next boxes.

To answer another question, yes the nest boxes can be reached from the back side.
I have always used straw or hay for litter, a lanolin floor can get pretty slick when you track winter snow in.

While my wife likes the idea of getting eggs from outside, I always liked going into the hen house to have a look at everything before I close up for the night.

I don't plan to add a run, mine have always free ranged in the yard. We are very rural...

Unless the design is not walk in or reachable i have found no use for an external ability to access the nest box either, we built the big hen house with a lid and i have never used it i can reach in or stand in the coop lol

Mine free range too!